IFFF revisited

IFFF revisited

IFFF Revisited unearths treasures from the festival archive and presents them to a transgenerational audience. The aim is to bring the feminist film heritage to the fore and to carry its significance into the here and now. For our guest curator, the filmmaker, author and curator Biene Pilavci, the boundaries between personal and political resistance are fluid. Whether in her documentaries or in her curatorial work – her keen eye for the subtle power plays of patriarchal violence in relation to female sexuality does not miss even the smallest detail. She turned this gaze to the festival film collection for several days before finally settling on a milestone in German film history:

Shirin’s Wedding is one of the better known films by Helma Sanders-Brahms, whose film-making covered issues including the women’s movement, work and migration. The melodrama was shown for the first time anywhere in the world in 1977 by the German broadcaster WDR.

It is important that this film exists, that it has gained a place in the German cinematic canon. Its significance also stems from its focus on female perspectives on migration in 1977 and its attempt to highlight an experience that had previously been marginalised. At the same time, from today’s perspective, it requires a contextualised reading. Its aesthetic and narrative choices invite debate about the commodification of women’s bodies and the discourse on ‘guest workers’ in film.

Biene Pilavci is featured in the begehrt! section with her own award-winning documentary Dancing Alone.